Why is Quitting Drugs So Hard? Part 1

If you're struggling with an addiction right now, you may be wondering why it seems so hard to quit. Only one component to substance abuse is the actual physical addiction to the drug. Other components include your current mental state, the circumstances surrounding your addiction and the environment that you're in in. All of these items, together, will need to be treated if you want to successfully end your addiction.

Your Environment Could be Toxic

One of the major things that can lead someone to abuse a substance, especially liquor, is a social environment. This is why many social drinkers find that they need to change their lifestyle to avoid triggers that could potentially lead them to drinking. You will need to be very conscientious about your environment and recognize anything that may be detrimental to your overall health, such as friends that you used to abuse substances with or high stress work environments. Drinkers are especially vulnerable because liquor is so easily available. As noted on DrugAbuse.gov, the majority of those who enter into rehabilitation centers have issues with liquor.

Your Mental Health and Emotional Needs Need to be Filled

Another reason many people end up abusing substances is due to emotional needs that are not being met. You could potentially be self-medicating for depression or anxiety, or you could simply use substances due to the fact that you're going through something personal in your life. Again, these things need to be addressed if you are to have any hope of truly recovering and staying clean.

The Physical Addiction

The physical addiction, of course, is the most obvious part of why ending your substance abuse problem will be so difficult. Some substances, such as heroin, have extraordinarily extensive symptoms of physical addiction. Others, like marijuana, are mostly psychologically addictive. How deep your physical addiction is will depend on a myriad of factors, including your own physiology, how long you've been using, the drug you've been using and the quantity of it you've been using.

Why Rehab Usually Helps

Those with a drug or alcohol addiction often find that ending their abuse cold turkey and going into a rehabilitation center is the best, easiest or only way that they can resolve their abuse problems. This is because a rehabilitation center usually creates a comprehensive program for the abuser so that they can separate from all of the factors that cause their drug abuse, as well as limit any physical damage done by the withdrawal process. Rehabilitation centers understand that drug abuse is not the end result of a physical dependency but rather the outward manifestation of something deeper.